The Echoing Oni
is the first episode of Kamen Rider Hibiki. Synopsis Asumu Adachi and his mother went to Yaku Island for a family reunion. During the boat ride to the island, Asumu meets a man named Hibiki, who has just saved a child from going overboard. On Yaku Island, people are disappearing in the forests and Hibiki goes in to investigate. In the forest, Asumu and his cousin meet Hibiki and also run into a pair of demons known as Douji and Hime of the Makamou. Hibiki goes to fight the Makamou and transforms into an armored figure called an Oni. When cornering one of the Makamou, Hibiki is seen by Asumu. Plot The episode starts with a musical number, as Asumu bicycles to school, we see several bystanders making sounds with their tools and belongings. Sounds that form a melody to go along with the songs theme of ”Good Morning”. During the ride he meets up with his friend Hitomi Mochida, who asks how many meat-buns he has today. A large crowd of bicycles join them as they all bicycle onto the school, ending the song. Standing outside a music class in session, Asumu was having a guidance session with his home-room teacher. She was checking in on his conviction to go to the school Jounan. Although it did have a Brass band it did not have much more. Asumu was too distracted by listening to music class, which prompted the teacher to ask if it was going to be warm on his weekend trip to Yaku island. Asumu replied that he did not know, as the last time he went there it was a Buddhist memorial service. On the boat to the island, Asumu's mother Ikuko Adachi thought she might get a cold, as she kept sneezing. She was talking to Asumu about Jounan having a Brass band, which should be enough for Asumu. Her son got distracted by dolphins in the water, so she left him and went inside. As Asumu was looking at the dolphins he heard a man singing a weird song about the creatures. The man who was known as Hibiki made a greeting gesture, but Asumu tried to ignore him. As he was about to leave, a small boy ran up to the railing and fell of, prompting Hibiki to jump and grab a hold of the railing and catch the boy before he fell into the water. The man turned the boy over to his parents and walked past Asumu, saying he works out a lot, and started to sing about the Dolphins again. Deep in a misty forest on Yaku Island was the Makamou, Douji and Hime who had just arrived. After examining the habitants of the island they proclaimed ”it” had been done. When Asumu and his mother arrived on the island they were greeted by his cousin Chizu Adachi, who had a lively reunion with his mother. Prompting him to go to the side of the road to wait. Hibiki appeared once more next to Asumu, and wished him a happy journey as he walked away inwards the island. The man sang about the island this time, and Asumu thought he behaved rather peculiar. Hibiki called the Tachibanas of Takeshi to let them know he had arrived. Hinaka Tachibana pitied him for having gotten a cold and asked if he could buy her a souvenir, but was interrupted by her sister Kasumi Tachibana. Hibiki still wondered what Hinaka's request was, to which Kasumi replied an ear-pick. He wondered what Kasumi might want, but she said a new Disc Animal had arrived and that he should return soon to test it. The call was suddenly interrupted, so Hibiki went to check the bus connections on the island. Suddenly a man appeared, asking if he was heading to the mountains. There was a lot of stories about people going missing in the mountains, and that Hibiki should be careful when he went there. Deep in the misty forest, a lone hiker was taking water from a stream when the Douji and Hime appeared, terrifying the hiker. As Hibiki got closer into the mountains he released a Taka Disc Animal to search the area. At the Adachi relative's house, they were feasting and celebrating. Asumu's aunt Riso Adachi started asking questions about school, which made him uncomfortable so that he made a quick exit shortly after. As he went to get his shoes he met Chizu, who took him on an island tour with her car. She took him around to see waterfalls and huge trees, until she got the idea to show him a very mysterious looking forest. As they stood and marvelled at the forest, a man suddenly appeared behind them, scaring them. The man greeted Asumu again, who was reluctant to call him an acquaintance when Chizu asked who the man was. He introduced himself as Hibiki, and decided to lead them out of the forest as he noticed they had gotten some of the Makamou's webbing on them. Asumu asked why Hibiki was there to which he replied that he came to lend a hand to a friend. Suddenly Chizu was wrapped in spiderweb, and screamed as she was dragged away. Hibiki immediately pursued her and found her unconscious as his Disc Animals were battling the Douji and Hime. He asked Asumu to take care of her and ran after the Makamou. He found them,just as they had incapacitated the Disc Animals, so he transformed into his Oni form. A battle ensued, while Asumu used all his might to tear up the webbing around Chizu. He ran of after Hibiki. But came upon Hibiki in his transformed state, but was unable to tell if he was human. Hibiki had been able to corner one of the Makamou, lighting it on fire with his Kihōjutsu: Onibi. As Asumu looked on he lost his footing and slid down a hill towards them. Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : **Parent Douji : Sei Ashina * : **Parent Hime : Mitsu Murata Guest cast * : * : *Old Man: *Asumu Adachi's uncle: *Riso Adachi: *Hiker: * : Suit Actors * * * Errors to be added Notes *As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside episode 49, . *The section of the opening scene where Asumu is "singing" while speaking a conversation to a friend is similar to the style of conversation seen in the 1964 French film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) *After the advisory about sitting too close to the TV, a kanji text message appears honoring Shotaro Ishinomori: "Fulfilling the last wishes of Shotaro Ishinomori-sensei." DVD Release Kamen Rider Hibiki ''Volume 1 feature episodes 1-4: ''The Echoing Oni, ''The Howling Spider'', ''Falling Voice'', and ''Running Ichiro''''.''http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/hibiki.html References Category:Kamen Rider Hibiki Category:Episodes Category:Season Premieres